


Small Again

by willow_larkspur



Series: August Auction Fics [41]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome James "Rhodey" Rhodes, De-Aged Tony Stark, Gen, Kid Tony Stark, Not Clint Barton Friendly, Not Natasha Romanoff Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Not Thor friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 07:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26349685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willow_larkspur/pseuds/willow_larkspur
Summary: Tony Stark has been de-aged to childhood.Now everyone is learning new things.
Relationships: The Avengers - Relationship, The Iron Family, Tony Stark & James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Series: August Auction Fics [41]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869739
Comments: 23
Kudos: 210
Collections: MC4A Year 3





	1. Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I’m just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn’t going to get you anything but tears.  
> Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.  
> Author’s Note: This will have another part that will also be in this collection. But for now, this is what there is.

(^^)  
**Small Again**  
Part 01: Waiting  
(^^)

“Well, I’m gonna say it if no one else is,” Clint announced as he leaned back in his perch in the infirmary waiting room. He focused his gaze on Thor. “Your brother sucks.”

“Loki is just rambunctious,” Thor defended weakly. He looked around the gathered Avengers. At all of their incredulous faces, his shoulders slumped. “It should wear off within short order.”

“What is the definition of  _ short order _ being used here?” Steve asked wearily. 

As a group, they had already learned that Thor’s understanding of the passage of time was almost as weird as Tony’s sense of it. Thor had once referred to something that had happened three centuries ago as happening  _ just a little while ago _ . He also said that something that had happened only fifteen months before the invasion had happened  _ in his youth _ .

“This particular trick of Loki’s never lasts more than a few days,” Thor explained. He spread his hands wide. “A week at the most. I’m sure the Man of Iron shall be returned to his true age before the next week’s end.”

“Great,” Clint complained, kicking out a leg in frustration. “Stark is gonna be a snot-nosed kid for a whole week! I mean, he’s normally childish, yeah, but not the kind that requires actual babysitting. What we even supposed to do with him?”

“Clint,” Natasha said simply. She was standing stiffly against the far wall, where she had a good view of everyone. Now her green eyes were focused on Clint with an intensity that made Steve uncomfortable for reasons that he didn’t want to examine too closely. Not that he had a chance of understanding what Natasha was trying to convey with only a look.

“Not a chance,” Clint snapped, inexplicably angry as far as Steve could tell. “Stark will be fine in the tower. He doesn’t need other arrangements, Nat.”

“If I may,” JARVIS interrupted smoothly (and Steve couldn’t repress a shudder at the reminder that they were under constant surveillance in the tower), “but Sir has a protocol in place for if he is ever incapacitated in a manner that requires any kind of supervision.”

“Uh, that’s good, JARVIS,” Steve said. He can’t help but look up at the ceiling, no matter how much Tony laughed at him for it. “Maybe you should do that.”

“Wait, Steve,” Natasha said, coming away from her wall. “What does this protocol entail? Can it keep Stark adequately contained?”

“The protocol has already be activated,” JARVIS replied, even though Natasha’s questions had been directed towards Steve. JARVIS sounded slightly less human than he normally did. “Colonel Rhodes has been on his way for the last ten minutes. His estimated time of arrival given his current flight speed is five hours and twenty-eight minutes. Mr. Hogan should be arriving within the hour.”

“Why is Happy coming?” Steve asked, genuinely confused. Rhodes coming made sense. They would need the backup of War Machine while Iron Man was out of commission. But Happy was essentially a civilian.

“He’s the head of Stark’s security team,” Natasha answered before JARVIS could. “He’ll probably take charge of Stark.”

“And let him run wild, no doubt,” Clint said. Natasha made a sharp and cutting gesture in his direction. Clint grumbled and settled back into his perch.

“This is good,” Natasha said. “Rhodes is more reliable than Stark anyway. Fury would have preferred him for the Initiative, but the Air Force wouldn’t give him up. And with Happy on babysitting duty, we won’t need to waste our time with it. This works out.”

“Then all is well,” Thor said. His smile was relieved. “Loki will not thwart us with his tricks!”

Steve managed a weak smile at Thor’s boisterous energy.

He just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all missing something important and it was going to come back to bite them. He couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from because it sounded like they had everything covered, but the feeling was persistent. It nagged at him like a hangnail, driving him to pace the small waiting area.

Then Happy came down the hall carrying a grumpy-faced child in hospital pajamas. The boy’s chest was mostly turned into Happy, but Steve could still see the pale glow of a reactor shining through the fabric of his shirt. The dark brown curls and honey-gold eyes were scarily similar to how Tony looked as an adult. Steve noticed as well that Tony was either very young or very small for his age.

“Do you need help?” Steve asked as Happy came up to them. Stark took one look at him and tucked his head into Happy’s shoulder.

“Sure don’t,” Happy said as he continued walking by them. His hand rubbed over Stark’s back. Steve heard a rush of breath leaving the boy as he leaned a bit more heavily into Happy. Something about that makes Steve itch but he doesn’t know what.

“Well, are we going to wait here for Rhodes?” Clint asked after Happy had entered the room that Stark had been assigned. “Because I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m hungry. We should order pizza while we don’t have to fight Stark about his pineapple obsession.”

“It’s a Californian thing,” Natasha said. She was already moving down the hall.

“It’s  _ unnatural _ ,” Clint argued as he jumped down to follow her. “Fruit does not belong on pizza at all.”

Steve agreed on principle but Stark certainly seemed to think otherwise. Then again, the guy also ordered his pizzas without any kind of meat on them. He did the same with his burgers when they had them, ordering them without cheese despite calling them cheeseburgers. Stark was a strange man.

Steve followed his team to the elevator that would take them to the common floor.

None of them bothered to look back at the still open door to their deaged teammate’s room.


	2. Finding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I’m just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn’t going to get you anything but tears.  
> Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.  
> Author’s Note: I had one of those charts like the conspiracy theory meme trying to nail down a timeline for this. I think I’ve got it now, but I also think that my paragraph referencing it got cut from this chapter for use later. For those of you who can’t bring yourself to accept the story as it is, just know that I now have a list. And a reminder that this story is not gonna be friendly towards certain characters and yelling at me will not change that.

(^^)  
** Small Again **   
Part 02: Finding  
(^^)

Happy got out of the elevator three floors below the one that housed the medical wing. He may have only met Tony after he was already in his twenties, but Jenny Rhodes had made sure that he was fully briefed on all of the quirks that made up Tony Stark and James Rhodes. Jenny’s partner Emily had been even more clear when she had dragged him out for drinks the first weekend after he had been hired.

Honestly, this was even worse than any of them (except Tony himself, apparently) had ever imagined.

“Stark Industries has a strict policy on not paying ransoms,” Emily had told him as one hand fiddled with her earring. Happy admired that her vibrantly blue drink matched her hair as she took a sip to let that statement sink in. His brow furrowed a bit when it did, because one of the things which Jenny had included in her briefing of his job had been that he should expect frequent kidnapping attempts and less frequent (but still common) successful kidnappings. “The kidnappers rarely expect monetary compensation anymore.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Happy had said at the time. After all, there were other ways that an engineering genius can pay for his freedom. “Seems a bit risky take someone who is in the limelight like he is, though.”

“Oh, it is,” Emily had agreed, “but not for the reasons you’re probably thinking of.” She had smiled at him, a smirking twist of her dark blue lips. “You see, Tony had known from a young age that he couldn’t expect someone to pay a ransom for him or for someone to be coming to rescue him. He had also learned better than to leave his captors with a lot of resources when he escapes. The destruction has gotten particularly thorough as time goes on.”

“So if Tony does get kidnapped—“

“Expect a lot of explosions,” Emily had finished. “Spectacular ones, of course. Maria taught her boy how to send a message, after all. But most importantly, understand that Tony will assume that he needs to save himself. Those lessons will never fade, no matter how close you get with him or how much he grows to trust you in other situations.”

That conversation was why Happy decided to get off the elevator early and take the stairs the rest of the way. JARVIS had mentioned that Tony had been unconscious when he had been brought in, likely from the transformation process, and there was no way to assess whether the age regression was just physical. If Tony woke up and the regression was mental as well, then the kid was likely to attempt some kind of escape.

And Happy knew better than to expect any of the Avengers to be able to stop him.

Happy had first met the so-called superheroes as themselves after what was being called the Incident in the media. Maybe his conclusion would have been different if he wasn’t privy to just how badly Tony had wanted to impress them all. Maybe if he hadn’t seen just how all of them had rejected Tony’s overtures towards actually being friends while all of them accepted the benefits of Tony’s generous nature. Maybe then Happy could have given the Avengers the benefit of the doubt and believed that they would be actually worried about their teammate.

So Happy wasn’t surprised when he heard the door open two floors above. Disappointed, sure, because it confirmed what he had already been expecting from the Avengers, but not surprised. Tony looked pale as he peeked over the edge of the stairs through a gap in the railing, the warning orange of his hospital bracelet practically glowing in the florescent lights. Happy gave a little wave as he assessed what he could see.

Tony looked around the same age he was in the clipping about building his engine. That matched the report from JARVIS. Happy still hadn’t expected the kid to still have the distinctive glow of the reactor in his much smaller chest, mostly because JARVIS hadn’t thought to include that bit. As he watched, Tony squared his shoulders and raised his chin, a mask dropping into place with startling ease.

More importantly, Tony showed no signs of recognizing who Happy was.

“Hey, Tony,” Happy said, keeping his eyes on the kid as he continued up the stairs. “You probably shouldn’t be up and about yet.”

“I’m fine,” Tony replied in the same mulish tone that he used as an adult. Happy felt his heart twist a little as he realized just how far back that habit went. “I don’t need to be watched like a baby.”

“I’m sure that’s true,” Happy agreed, earning a suspicious look, “but I think Dr. Cho would prefer to check you over before you leave Medical just in case. Then I was thinking we could get a pizza.”

“No meat,” Tony said instantly. His hands gripped each other tightly as his shoulders tightened. A fine tremor went through his thin frame. Happy had reached the landing now, and it hit him how much smaller than him the kid was. “Not with cheese.”

“And pizza without cheese is just sad,” Happy answered, completing the explanation that Tony had given the first time they had shared a pie. Happy eyed the kid. “You’ve ever have a pizza with pineapple?”

“You like pineapple on your pizza?” Tony asked, excitement lighting up his face. Just as suddenly, the light dimmed. “Dad wouldn’t approve.”

“Then it’s a good thing that I don’t work for Howard Stark,” Happy commented dryly. Tony gave him a flat expression. Happy debated giving Jenny’s name, even though Tony wouldn’t have recognized it anymore than he recognized Happy. Then again, a small lie wouldn’t necessarily hurt. “I work for JARVIS.”

“He would definitely let me have pizza,” Tony said with a nod, “because it would make Eym smile. He liked it when she smiled.” Tony wilted a bit at the end of his declaration. Happy knelt down, his knees already protesting the motion.

“Let’s get you back to Medical, little buddy,” he said as he gently pulled the kid against his chest and lifted him up. “We can order a pizza delivered directly to the room.”

And if Happy had to bite his tongue to keep from chewing out the Avengers as he carried Tony past them, then no one needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Submitting Info:  
> Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 13); MC4A  
> Individual Challenges: Young Again; Neurodivergent; Disabled; Small Fry; The 3rd Rule; Claimed; Ship Sails; Zed Era; New Fandom Smell (Y); Marvelous Cinema; Short Jog; The Real MC; Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon  
> House: Slytherin  
> Assignment No.: Term 13 – Assignment 05  
> Subject (Task No.): n/a  
> Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [963](Calm); 365 [159](Incident); Like a Skyscraper [2-4](Bracelet); Pick a Wick [Oak Moss](Calm); Build a Better Breakfast [Walnuts](Conclusion)  
> Other MC4A Challenges: FaB [4D](Owl); Hunt [Fa Items](Jewelry); Chim [Karma](n/a); Ship (n/a)[Sp Big](Earring); Fire [Easy](Genius); Garden [Word Song](Super); Hang [Phase 02](Sapphic Ships)  
> Representation(s): The Iron Fam; deaged & autistic Tony Stark; Happy Hogan & Tony Stark; Jennette Rhodes/Emily Casey; Ana Jarvis’ Undying Jewish Legacy  
> Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Casper’s House; Turtle-Duck; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Found Family; Nontraditional; Middle Name; Unwanted Advice; Clio’s Conclusion; Lovely Coconuts; Younger You; Grease Monkey; Rock of Ages); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow’s Shade; Larger than Life; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench)  
> Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Toad); SN (Rail; Negate); FR (Satisfaction); O3 (Olivine); SS (Schooner); War (Sanctuary; Ennui)  
> Word Count: 1072

**Author's Note:**

> Submitting Info:  
> Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 13); MC4A  
> Individual Challenges: Metahuman MC; SHIELD MC (x3); Disabled; Small Fry; Neurodivergent; Claimed; Zed Era; New Fandom Smell; In a Flash; Bucket Listing (Y); Greatest Gift; Green Ribbon  
> House: Slytherin  
> Assignment No.: Term 13 – Assignment 04  
> Subject (Task No.): n/a  
> Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [602](Confused); 365 [162](Incredulous); Auction [31-1](Gift Fic for Bex)  
> Other MC4A Challenges: FaB [5E](Change); Set [5D](Hospital/Medical Ward); Hunt [Fa Set](Hospital/Medical Ward); Chim [Deke](n/a); Fire [Easy](Genius); Garden [Bed Types](NYC)  
> Representation(s): Avengers; The Iron Fam  
> Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Casper’s House; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Zucchini Bread; Middle Name; Unwanted Advice; For the Vine; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Rock of Ages); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow’s Shade; A Long Dog; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench)  
> Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Toad); SN (Rail); O3 (Ox)  
> Word Count: 981


End file.
